The Heart of Stone
by xxKiseki-chanxx
Summary: The world Nori Stone lives in is a dangerous one, where the things you love most can be destroyed in an instant. After living three years alone in the safety of her house, her resources are running low. The young girl must make a choice that could change her life forever, and possibly reveal why her parents died. Rated M just in case. I do not own any part of Minecraft.
1. Chapter One: Sorrow and Determination

**Chapter One: Sorrow and Determination  
**

Nori sighed heavily and leaned against the railing, staring blankly off at the sunset that was painting the sky a myriad of dazzling colors. The world was truly beautiful at sunset, yet it was the time of day she had come to hate the most. It was when monsters crawled out of their various holes and caves and made it their business to try and destroy everything she had.

She was standing on the sixth-floor balcony of her house, her faithful white Husky named Snow lying beside her with his head resting on her foot. He looked up to growl halfheartedly at a Creeper they could see about a mile off. The dog would jump to her rescue and fight off any monster that threatened Nori, except for Creepers. Nori couldn't really blame him; she didn't like getting very close to them either after what had happened to her mother.

Her parents had been dead for three years now, almost to the day. Everything she had, had once belonged to her parents. The house, the farm, all the chests full of spare tools and food... And now it was all hers. But she would have given up everything to have Renee and Rhett Stone back with her again.

Nori's thoughts turned from her dead parents to something disturbing that she had discovered earlier that day. Her food chests were getting low, and her tools were nearly broken. She would soon have to venture out into the world for the first time in her life and collect resources if she wanted to continue to survive. Nori's parents had never let her outside the fence her entire life. However, logic told her she couldn't be all alone in the world.

"There have to be other humans out there, Snow," she whispered to her dog, whose ear twitched at the sound of his name. "I just know it... Mother and Father had to come from somewhere, right? If I could only find those other humans..." Nori's voice trailed off as she became lost in thought again.

There was no denying it; the seventeen year old girl was afraid at the thought of leaving the relative safety of her home. There were a few crops she had kept tending, and apple trees that would give fruit a little while longer before she had to chop them down for firewood, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to use all the resources on the property before searching for help.

However, there was a huge setback keeping her from trying; she didn't know how to make the weapons or tools she would need to go on any kind of journey. Her shovel, hoe, and axe wouldn't hold out very long against a hoard of hostile monsters; they were barely standing up to their intended jobs anymore. "What's really upsetting," she murmured to Snow, "Is that I know where I would find out how to build those things... Father's workshop." She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her father... She had loved him dearly, and he had always made it clear that he loved her too. But he had been irritatingly secretive in life.

Her mother, Renee, had been a down-to-earth and hardworking woman. She singlehandedly grew all the food they ate, made repairs around the house, kept the animals fed as well as slaughtering them when the time came, and trained Snow from a wild dog to a loyal companion. The woman had been a master with the sword and bow, and feared no monster.

Her father Rhett, on the other hand, was just the opposite. Oh, certainly he'd been hardworking, but in a very different way. He preferred to spend most of his time deep in the cellar, in what his wife used to refer to in an annoyed voice as his "workshop". The room was all but impenetrable, made of pure obsidian and sealed with an iron door. Nori had never discovered how he entered and exited; he seemed to have some secret way of entering so that his curious daughter couldn't follow.

Rhett had done most of the mining for the ore and minerals that his wife needed for her tools and building materials, as well as creating the tools themselves. Nori could see the entrance to his mine shaft from the house, still glowing faintly in the distance from the torches around it. Her mind turned back, to that fateful day that her parents had both been taken from her in one fell swoop...

_Nori smiled as her father patted her head fondly, looking with wide and trusting eyes up at him. It was his day to stay home and protect Nori, but he had told her that he needed to go down into the mine for something. "Don't tell Mother, Nori. I should be back before she can notice. Can I count on you?" Nori's grin widened at his conspiratorial wink, delighted to be trusted with a secret._

_"I won't tell, Daddy, I promise."_

_She had stood on the third floor balcony to watch him hurry toward his mine shaft. Nori crossed over to the other side of the house and stood out on that side of the balcony, able to see her mother in the distance herding cattle. The child admired her strong, fearless mother, but Renee could be a bit cold and calculating sometimes. She often scolded Nori for being so interested in her father's mysterious work. 'It's not the kind of thing you should concern yourself with,' seemed to be her constant refrain when her daughter asked questions about crafting._

_Nori was brought back to the present when she saw something unusual; a Creeper sneaking up on her mother during broad daylight. She screamed in terror as it got within exploding distance, her mother whirling and slashing at the creature with her sword just in time. Nori thought later that there was something odd about that specific Creeper aside from it being out during the day, but she had never been able to put her finger on it. Any thoughts of the creature's oddities were driven away by pure horror when her mother's sure and true strike didn't kill it, the Creeper exploding with a flash and earsplitting bang, the noise muffling Nori's screams._

_Utterly horrified and shocked by what she had seen, Nori peered desperately into the smoke left behind by the creature's destruction, praying for a sign that her mother could have survived. Maybe she hadn't been as close as she'd looked... But all hope left the young girl at the sight of her mother's burned, shriveled body lying in the rubble. "Mama!" she screamed in her grief, running to the other side of the house, desperate to see if her father was okay. She couldn't lose both of them in one day, she just couldn't..._

_Nori got to the window in time to see her father just touching the doorknob of the entrance to the deep mineshaft, the girl feeling a brief flutter of relief before her world was shattered once more by a deafening explosion. This one left no corpse, it was so massive; it could only have been caused by TNT detonating behind the door. Nori sank to the floor, howling and sobbing with the deepest sorrow a human could feel, wishing that she had died too._

And yet, she hadn't. After many, many days of just crying and sleeping and crying some more, Nori woke to find Snow faithfully curled around her in her parents' large bed. Strangely, the dog's loyalty brought her back from the brink of despair, and somehow she knew she could make it on her own. And she had, up until now.

"I know Father's workshop has to have clues on how to create all those tools and weapons... It can't have all been in his head, he was too scatterbrained for that," she murmured to herself, going inside the house again as the sounds of the monsters dying in the traps around the property began to get to her. She knew they couldn't reach her in the large house. Monsters weren't smart enough to use the doors.

"But how can I possibly get in there? Father said that nothing can break obsidian except for diamond..." She thought suddenly of the diamond sword her mother had possessed; it had been the very weapon that she had tried to kill the Creeper with. Maybe, just maybe, she could use it to hack away at the obsidian and get to the knowledge that would liberate her at last. And perhaps she would find some answers to the questions surrounding her parents' deaths. There was one small problem with her plan, one that she nervously decided to face in the morning...

The diamond sword was still lying on the floor of the crater where her mother had died.

**((Thanks for reading! Please review. I welcome constructive criticism.))**


	2. Chapter Two: Diamond Sword

**Chapter Two: Diamond Sword  
**

It took Nori a good twenty minutes to build up her courage enough to even leave the house the next morning, knowing what she needed to do. Her knuckles were white as she clutched her axe; it was the only one of her remaining tools that could be used to defend herself if something should attack. She had waited until high noon to venture out. If her knowledge of monsters was correct, none of the overly hostile ones would be out right now, giving her plenty of time to search for the sword.

Snow trotted along beside her as she headed for the gate at the very edge of her property that was closest to where the crater was. The dog didn't seem to share any of the girl's anxiety or fear. On the contrary, he was excited to be leaving the property again. He bounded up ahead, pawing at the fence and barking, looking forward to running free in the fields and forest again with his trusty human.

Nori's hands were shaking so badly that she almost couldn't get the lock on the gate open. Taking several deep breaths to calm herself, she took her first cautious step into the unguarded plains around the property. She looked around wildly for any kind of threat, finding none. A few chickens were pecking at the grass near the treeline of the nearby forest, but other than that they were alone. Snow ran off at once to chase the chickens, barking gleefully.

"My hero," muttered Nori dryly as she approached the crater alone. Her defensive stance lessened and her darting eyes began to focus on her destination, but the tension in her muscles only got worse. It had been three years... Her mother's corpse was probably dust by now, or so she hoped. 'But what if she isn't? Oh, god...' She was at the edge of the crater now, her heart pounding and her stomach flip-flopping enough to make her nauseous.

Nori's scream lodged in her throat, nearly suffocating her when she saw her mother's body only a few feet away. Her clothes had long since rotted or burned to nothing, but her body had been mummified by the heat of the explosion from years before, leaving a very grisly-looking corpse.

After a few horrible moments of silence aside from the thundering of her heart in her chest, Nori was able to breathe again, her hand clamped over her mouth to keep herself from being sick. 'You can't be weak now,' she chided herself, Nori suddenly thinking of what her mother would say if she could see her. 'Find the sword. Mother would want you to be strong. Father would want you to protect yourself. Get it done.' With a few deep, shuddering breaths through her fingers, Nori stepped around her mother's body and began sifting through the loose dirt for her prize.

"Ouch!" Nori jerked her hand back when she felt something sharp slice open her finger, the girl wrapping the bleeding appendage in her shirt. She had found the sword, though not in the way she'd hoped. Moving more carefully now, Nori brushed aside the dust until the blade was completely uncovered.

She was amazed at the condition the sword was in; it shone like new and didn't have a single imperfection. It was a beautiful weapon, and still razor-sharp. After wrapping her finger in a torn piece of her clothing, Nori grasped the hilt and stood, searching again through the dust. Finally she realized that even if she found her mother's leather sheath, it would likely be too fragile to use.

Nori breathed much easier when she emerged from the crater, walking back toward her house and whistling for Snow. He came at once, holding a dead chicken in his mouth that he offered to her. "Well, at least we'll have dinner tonight," she chuckled, taking the bird and shifting it to the hand that held her mother's sword. Nori patted Snow's head to praise him and hurried for the fence line; she would feel far safer when she was behind closed doors again.

**2 hours later**

Panting from exertion, Nori gave the obsidian wall one more stab, crying out and throwing the sword to the ground in frustration. She'd been trying to break through for hours now, with absolutely no success. It seemed that not only was diamond the only thing that could break obsidian, it had to be a diamond pickaxe. Her father's was long since gone; blown up in the very powerful explosion that had killed him.

Nori glared at the entrance of her father's workshop. Her father... yes, she had loved him. But right now she hated him for taking away her last hope by selfishly guarding his secrets in death. "Why did you have to make everything so difficult?" she yelled, giving the sword a vicious kick down the hallway, suddenly enraged at both of her parents.

"You were always so damn stubborn about letting me leave the property, like I was some weak, stupid little girl! You both said you'd always be there to protect me, but both of you have fucking killed me! You took my last hope with all your secrets; now I'm either going to starve to death or get killed by monsters, because you wouldn't let me grow up and now I don't know how!" Overcome with grief and rage, Nori began sobbing forcefully and sank to her knees, hating everything.

It took more than an hour for her to calm down. She began to feel bad for screaming at her dead parents like she despised them. While it did annoy her that they had unwittingly made it hard for her to survive, she hadn't hated them. She loved and missed her parents, and felt horrible for saying otherwise. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry, Dad." Nori drew a shuddering breath and got to her feet, resting her hand on the smooth obsidian wall.

'So... do I just give up?'

Unwilling now to admit defeat, the girl once again examined every inch of the wall around the solid iron door, suddenly struck with a thought that seemed obvious now. 'The sword may not have gone through the obsidian... But it should go through the iron!' Feeling stupid for not thinking of it sooner, Nori eagerly picked up the sword again and brought it swinging down on the door.

It cut through the hinges like string, the heavy door falling back into the dark workshop with a loud clang that echoed through the hallway. Panting once again, but with excitement this time, Nori grabbed her flint and steel to light a torch on the wall as she cautiously entered the chamber.

**((Thanks again for reading! Sorry if the story seems to be moving slowly; I promise it'll start getting exciting and scary soon! Please review, any critiques you have would be appreciated.))**


	3. Chapter Three: Demon

**Chapter Three: Demon**

Goosebumps rose on Nori's arms as the cold, musty air of her father's workshop hit her. The obsidian made the room seem unnaturally dark in spite of her torch, the girl swiftly lighting the torches that lined the wall to ease her mind. She couldn't help the creepy feeling she got that someone or something was hiding in the large room. Once it was well lit, Nori turned to really take a look around...

And found herself face-to-face with a man she'd never seen before.

She yelped in surprise and stumbled backward, her blue eyes wide with complete terror as she took in the silent stranger. He was tanned and well-muscled with dark hair and stubble, his clothes simple and worn out. He wouldn't have been particularly frightening except for one thing; his eye sockets were empty and shone as if they were filled with white light instead of eyes.

Nori gasped when he took a step closer to her, taking several steps back and tripping over the doorframe, falling on her back in the hallway. "Please, no... D-Don't hurt me!" she cried, raising her arms, the man grinning and raising a blood-covered diamond axe. The frightened teen's screams filled the hallway while she covered her face with her arms so she wouldn't have to see him kill her, Snow finally bounding down the cellar steps to come to his human's rescue.

A good five minutes passed, and Nori heard nothing but Snow's frantic barking and felt nothing but her dog nosing at her arms as if trying to make sure she was alright. Moving slowly, her heart still thumping as fast as a rabbit's, the girl lowered her arms and looked at where the man had been. There was no one. Her father's workshop was a very large room, but a perfect square with no real hiding places. She stood and entered the shop, clutching her mother's sword, and looked around once more to make sure he was gone.

After several more silent seconds, she realized that she really was alone and sighed, setting her sword down on a nearby crafting table and leaning heavily against the wall. "I know I saw him, Snow," she whispered to her dog, running her fingers through his soft white fur, still shaking from leftover adrenaline. "I saw him... but if he'd really been here, you would have attacked him... what _was_ he?"

Snow had nothing to contribute but a soft bark before placing his front paws on her shoulders and licking her face, making Nori giggle and hug him. She no longer felt as frightened since he was with her, so once more went about examining the contents of the massive torch-lit room.

It would have definitely been quicker to list things that _weren't_ there. One expansive wall was lined with chests, a space in between each row and going up nearly to the ceiling, stacked on stone shelves. Just one look and Nori knew it would take her days to sift through each one. Another wall was all bookshelves, and every shelf was jam-packed with tomes large and small. The third wall had several dozen furnaces built into it, all full of coal from what she could see, waiting to smelt as much iron and gold ore as she could ever use.

The most interesting part of the room was the area lining the front wall, where the iron door had been until recently. It was full of odd equipment the like of which Nori had never seen before. Several odd little stands, each with three glass bottles full of brightly colored fluid, lined one side. The other had two large cauldrons full of water pushed up against it.

But by far, the crown jewels of the room were the things that stood in the very center. Three items, to be specific. One was a small shelf stuffed with eleven colorful discs. The second was a jukebox to play them (her father had once explained the process, though Nori had mostly tuned him out). The third rested between the other two, more mysterious than anything she'd ever seen.

It was a beautiful, elegant table carved out of obsidian with solid diamonds at the corners that caught the torchlight perfectly, giving the area around it a solemn glow. The huge book resting on top fluttered open as Nori drew near, startling her for a moment before curiosity once again overruled caution. Letters seemed to literally fly off the pages as they turned, promising to share wonderful secrets if she did as the book asked.

After several minutes just standing and looking around in complete awe, Nori sat down at one of several crafting benches with a hefty sigh. "Oh, boy, Snow... We have a lot of work to do." Nori grabbed the first book she could reach and read the title; Sword Craft. It was what it seemed; a book completely about swords. How to find the components, how to craft them, and how to use them.

Nori grew excited once again, jumping to her feet and just reading through the titles on the bookshelves. Pickaxes, axes, swords, bows, boats, furnaces, furniture, carpentry, monsters, arrows, recipes, sewing guides, mapmaking, gems and ores and their properties, academic studies such as math and languages... More knowledge than Nori would be able to absorb in many lifetimes sat on the bookshelves. The chests were full of anything she could want, everything the books described.

She only stopped exploring the room in depth when she began to yawn so hard that she actually lost her balance and fell over, Snow barking and rushing over at once to sniff at her curiously. Nori stumbled to her feet and out of the room, remembering to grab her sword before leaving. "We'll get to work tomorrow, Snow," she mumbled with another yawn, climbing the flights of stairs until she reached her room on the sixth floor. The sword she placed carefully on the nightstand beside her bed, hilt facing toward her so that she could grab it at a moment's notice.

Of course it was only after she was in bed and under the covers that the terrifying event from earlier came back to the forefront of her mind. It was as if the very mental image of the eyeless male triggered a mental floodgate, questions flowing into her mind faster than a raging waterfall. 'Father had so much information and resources at his disposal... why did he guard it so fiercely from Mother and me? What was he so afraid of us finding? Could all those things be cursed by that man from earlier? Did Mother and Father know about him?' More questions swirled in her mind, mostly centering around her parents' odd deaths.

Nori sat up with a sharp gasp and soft cry of dismay when she remembered what had seemed so odd about that Creeper that had killed her mother. Its eyes had been identical to those of the apparition from earlier that evening. This realization opened up a whole other world of questions, making the worn-out girl absolutely dizzy with confusion and raging curiosity.

'At least I have what I need to survive for awhile,' she reassured herself, pushing away the questions and cuddling closer to Snow. 'With the books, I can teach myself how to make things, do things, know things... I can be like Father... Maybe I'll even be able to find the other humans with the things I learn... Maybe they will have some answers...' Soothed by these thoughts, Nori finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**3 weeks later**

At last, Nori finally felt strong and in control, for the first time since her parents' deaths. She had memorized a good chunk of the crafting and fighting information in the books, and had built her own stock of enchanted weapons. Not to mention the potions all clinking together in her backpack. Somehow she had even found a spell to extend Snow's life and make him stronger; she wanted her faithful pet and friend with her as long as possible.

It had turned out that Nori had quite an affinity for the bow, though fondness for her mother kept her mainly using the diamond sword. She had practiced using all her weapons on the monsters that came out near her house at night, until the surrounding area was pretty well purged of enemies. She had learned that Endermen would leave you alone unless you stared directly at them, so she ignored them most of the time. Her only fear was of going underground to mine for herself.

Nori had found the gems and ores to make her weapons from the chests in her father's workshop, preferring that over traversing his deep and dangerous mineshaft. She knew for a fact that monsters bred faster underground; her chances of survival would lessen the deeper she went. So she decided to leave mining for later, though she had a pickaxe strapped to her back underneath her bow and quiver of infinite arrows (a useful enchantment) just in case. Her main goal as she locked up the house and left the property now was to find a village.

She hadn't seen any more of the frightening apparition after that first day, and was truly beginning to think that she had imagined him. The only reason she still thought it might have been real was the fact that the Creeper who had killed her mother hadn't been a normal Creeper. Was the male some kind of monster that had assassinated Renee? What if he was behind her father's death too?

Shaking her head to get rid of the useless inner speculation, Nori took advantage of the open plains and began to run, Snow easily keeping up with her and barking joyfully. The girl ran fast, considering how many things she was carrying. Luckily for her, her father had left a magical pack that shrank things down to a miniscule size when they were stored in it, so she could take things like a furnace, a crafting table, the jukebox, extra diamonds and armor and gold and books and the enchantment table and a brewing station... Anything she might need, really. Her weapons, however, were always at the ready as she kept a lookout for monsters.

Aside from a couple of Creepers and a Spider Jockey, she saw nothing that night. Only after the sun had risen high in the sky did she allow herself to rest, quickly building a slanted ladder so that she and Snow could sleep in a tree for the day. She then woke at sunset and carried on.

This continued for days on end, Nori and Snow surviving off of the land. There was plenty of game to hunt; even the desert she entered on the fifth day had a few animals wandering about, so there was no danger of going hungry. She carried water with her, so that wasn't a concern. But after a good solid month of travel, she began to worry.

For one thing, Nori was now very far away from her house. Though she had no doubt it was secure, it was disconcerting to be so far from home when you hadn't left it until this point in your life. For another, she was truly beginning to fear that she was the only living person in the world. 'What will I do then? There'd be no one to tell me of what happened to my mother and father...'

At last, _at last_, on the dawn of her eighteenth birthday, she spotted something on the horizon that was definitely not natural landscape. Fighting back her exhaustion, she began to run toward it, determined not to rest for the day until she was sure that there were other humans. In spite of her physical tiredness, Nori felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off of her when the clear shape of a town began to appear in the distance.

It took fifteen minutes for her to run that distance until she stood at the gate in the walls, just drinking in the sight of it and panting from exertion. People, more than she'd ever dreamed of seeing, milled about on the streets, talking and laughing. Enormous iron golems strolled among them, occasionally offering flowers to children.

The area around Nori began to get quiet, until all of the villagers were still and staring at her. Nori blushed, confused as to their mixed fearful and hateful expressions. She was a stranger, sure, but she didn't think she'd done anything threatening. Hesitantly she smiled and raised a hand as if to wave, only to have a nearby man in a black apron grasp her wrist so tightly it hurt. "Ow! Wh-what..."

"Strangers aren't welcome here," the big man holding her boomed, his grip tightening as he kicked at the growling Snow. "State your name and business, girl, at once!"

"Oww! Please, I'm j-just here because my parents died... I don't mean any harm; I just needed to know if I was alone..."

"Your _name_!"

"Nori! Nori Stone!"

The crowd seemed to inhale all at once, all of them taking a step back but for the male gripping Nori. She could hear mumbling begin throughout the crowd as several men in purple religious robes came forward and relieved her of her weapons and possessions, one of them tethering Snow to the fence in spite of her protests.

"The Stones had a daughter!"

"And they're dead now!"

"She's probably a witch like her father!"

"Bring the curse on us all, she will..."

"Enough, good people," said one of the purple-garbed men that didn't have a hold on Nori, raising his hands and getting immediate quiet from the villagers. "It is clear what we have to do. We cannot let the child go free; we have learned our lesson from that. The Church shall prepare her as a just sacrifice for the demon that plagued this land when Ryan Stone still lived. I am sure that with the death of the last Stone, he will be sated once and for all, and will leave us in peace."

The robed man turned and glared at Nori as if she had committed a terrible crime, the poor girl shaking in fear. She hadn't been expecting this when she found other humans. They were going to kill her!

**((As always, thanks so much for reading! And double thanks to those who left reviews on the last two chapters; your reward is an extra long chapter this time! 3 Please leave reviews and constructive criticisms if any, and I'll try to have the next chapter up soon.))**


	4. Chapter Four: Ryan Stone

**Chapter Four: Ryan Stone**

None of Nori's questions or pleas were acknowledged as the clergymen dragged her to the church. She could hear Snow barking and growling viciously behind her, half-hoping he would get free and tear apart the men holding her. However, she still had the presence of mind even in her fear to know that they would likely kill him, so she called back over her shoulder, "Stay, Snow! Stay!" His growls faded to pitiful whines and whimpers, so she knew he wouldn't keep fighting the rope that bound him to the fence.

She was taken into the rather plain stone church and down several flights of stairs before reaching the dungeon. "Isn't this a little odd, that the clergymen are also the police in this town?" she mumbled, receiving a hard slap for her observation. The four men shoved her roughly into a cell sporting a sad-looking cot and enclosed with iron bars, slamming the door shut behind her and leaving without a word.

As soon as they were out of sight, Nori took off her jacket and began to look for a way to escape. There were no windows down here, of course, considering how far they were underground. But the wall was weak, and Nori knew how to dig. It would take longer without her tools, but she wasn't the helpless little girl she had been a couple of months ago.

After pulling out several stones in the wall, she began to dig into the mud as fast as she could, wanting to get out before darkness set in and monsters endangered her bound dog. Sadly, she was only able to dig a few feet in before her arms were shaking too badly to continue. She was just too tired; her body was used to sleeping during the daytime.

She would have had to stop anyway, because she could hear someone coming down the steps toward her cell now. Nori quickly replaced the stones and put her jacket back on to hide the mud on her shirt. She had just wiped her hands on the already-filthy bedspread to get rid of the mud there when the priest came into sight. Deciding silence was the best course of action at the moment, Nori just looked at the man as he approached.

The closer he got, the more Nori saw that his description was closer to boy than man; very slight and pale, with a handsome face. He smiled apologetically and sat down on a chair near the bars. "I'm really sorry about all that... People around here tend to overreact." He paused as if expecting Nori to reply, getting only cold silence in return. Sighing heavily, the boy ran his fingers through his short blond hair in a nervous gesture.

"I know you've got no reason to trust me, but I really do want to help you get out of here. We have to wait for nighttime, though."

Nori's curiosity overcame her caution. "Why would you want to help me escape?"

He blushed and looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back at her. "Let me ask you something. Did your parents ever tell you about Ryan Stone?"

"No. Who was he?"

"Well... If your parents were Renee and Rhett Stone... he was your father's brother. Your uncle. He died about twenty five years ago."

Nori looked down at her hands to hide her shock. She'd had an uncle? And her parents had never told her? After a full minute of silence she looked back up at the boy and frowned. "Tell me everything."

The boy chuckled and shook his head. "Uh-uh. You first. You're the one who needs _my_ help, remember?"

She scowled and folded her arms, too stubborn to admit that he had a point. Nori finally sighed and began talking. She wasn't sure what exactly the boy wanted to know, so she just summarized her life. From being raised in an overprotective environment, to her parents' roles in ensuring her survival, to their mysterious deaths, to the apparition in her Father's workshop, and finally how she studied up on crafting and left her parents' house to find other humans. "But now that I've found a village, it seems I'm some kind of pariah without having said one word, and the local church wants to sacrifice me to a demon."

The young priest had sat there listening intently to her entire speech for nearly an hour, and only when she was finished did he sit back and let out a very heavy sigh, followed by a rueful chuckle. "Wow, you really have had a hard time of it. I'll explain things as best I can, okay? I really do want to help you, but a lot of this I heard from my parents and the priests because it was before my time.

"See, your family used to live in this same village. Your dad Rhett and your uncle Ryan were powerful men. Rhett had a passion for enchantments and brewing potions, while Ryan loved mining, and they worked together to bring the town wealth and magical protection. Neither of them had any desire to join the church or get into a real position of power, though, so the priests weren't very fond of them right off. They were just too popular with the villagers to attack directly."

The boy hesitated a moment, as if searching for what to say next. "From what I understand, Ryan became interested in monsters. He wanted to find out if they could be controlled. Somehow he learned the language of the cursed undead and they told him how to summon a demon that would help him on the way to gaining power over all monsters."

"Ryan built a... some kind of altar deep underground. I heard that it was built of solid gold blocks, some kind of engraved image, and Nether Rock. Don't ask me how he got the Nether Rock; I didn't even know the Nether was accessable while one was alive, and no one else seemed to know that either. This altar or totem he built summoned a horrible demon, matching the description of the man you saw in your father's workshop."

Nori's arms prickled with goosebumps and she shuddered. Her uncle had summoned the horrible thing? But the boy wasn't done yet.

"You said you found a jukebox and eleven discs? Did you ever listen to the eleventh?"

She tried to think. Nori had listened to all the discs she'd found back in the first week of finding her father's workshop, and she remembered one that had been truly peculiar. "The broken one?"

"Yes. That's the sound of Ryan's death."

Nori paled at that news. She had listened to her uncle's death. The broken disc, or at least the part that played, had sounded like someone injured fleeing from something that howled. "That's... That's horrible..."

"The whole town heard that disc after Rhett found Ryan's body and the shrine deep underground. The name of the demon was carved on his chest, and it's a name that's forbidden to mention at all in our village. Herobrine. Apparently the undead lied about him being helpful."

Just the sound of the name made the room seem colder, and Nori glanced over her shoulder as if to make sure that the horrible demon wasn't behind her. To think she had come so close to being killed by him like her uncle! "But then... why..."

"Just a second, I'm almost done. The villagers panicked when Herobrine began appearing around town. He's so powerful. He used to write his name in precious stones, carve it into landscapes overnight, and build horrible death traps everywhere that usually involved explosives. Nobody knew what to do, and everyone was in a panic. That's when the priests saw their chance to get revenge on Rhett for being so well-liked and not joining the Church.

"They spread rumors that Rhett was a male witch who had helped his brother summon the demon to destroy the town. In their fearful state, the villagers weren't hard to convince. Rhett and his wife Renee were banished and threatened with death if they ever returned. Within a week of the banishing, Herobrine seemed to leave for good, which didn't help the argument for your father's innocence. So now, you show up twenty four years later, obviously as strong in magic as your father..."

Nori understood now. They thought she was a witch who had brought back the demon. "You have to believe me, though, I didn't know about any of this."

The boy nodded firmly. "I believe you. I could see when you first arrived that you had never been around people before. You looked so completely happy... There was no way you were evil. I knew then that Rhett had to have been innocent, just like my mother said."

Nori frowned again slightly, more questions coming to the front of her mind. "There are still things I don't understand... Why was Herob... I mean, the demon... in my father's workshop? Why didn't he kill me when he had every chance? And why are you, a priest, trying to help me escape and explaining my family's past to me?"

The young priest shifted uncomfortably for a moment before looking into Nori's icy blue eyes with his gentle brown ones. "Because if you're really Nori Stone... Then that makes us cousins. On your mother's side. Your mother's maiden name was Renee Cooper, and my name is Quin Cooper. My mom, Randi, was Renee's sister, and was always convinced of your father's innocence."

It was more shocking news, but good news for once. Nori had living family! She smiled for the first time since her "arrest", only to frown again as another question burst her happy bubble. "But... If you know how evil the Church is... Why did you join up?"

It was Quin's turn to scowl, then fidget nervously. "Can you keep a secret, Nori?"

Nori was puzzled at Quin's anxiety, but nodded. "Of course."

The priest drew a shaky breath and stood, shedding his robe to reveal his undergarments. The short black shorts weren't necessarily odd, but his chest was bound tightly with what looked like bandages, and his body had a faint hourglass shape. "I'm... Well... I'm a girl. My mother deliberately raised me as a boy, keeping my gender secret from even my father until he died, so that I could grow up to be a priest and change the Church for the better. I'm already on my way to being the next High Priest, but it's really important nobody finds out that I'm female. Girls aren't allowed to hold Church positions, and I'd probably be executed if they found out."

This news wasn't shocking at all to Nori, and made perfect sense. She smiled reassuringly at her cousin as the girl moved to put her robes back on. "I won't tell. That was very smart of Randi, though."

Quin smiled reluctantly and nodded. "My mom's pretty sharp." She looked at something on a wall nearby that Nori couldn't see. "It should be dark in a couple hours. Listen, I can help you escape the town, and I hear that there's a tribe of nomads in this desert that might know how to banish demons. See, everyone who's tried to destroy Herobrine's totem has died, but if you can destroy it by the time I become High Priest in a few years, I might be able to convince the town of Rhett's innocence and clear his name at last."

Nori didn't hesitate, but replied affirmatively at once, feeling her resolve harden. This would be her quest; to destroy Herobrine and clear her parents' names. Surely this would be what they would want for their daughter. Quin smiled and stood. "I'll go make sure the other Priests are gone and get your things. We'll go as soon as the curfew bell has sounded."

After Quin ran up the steps, Nori was left alone with her thoughts. Suddenly afraid of the demon appearing and trying to kill her again, she scooted on the bed so that her back was pressed against the wall. At least if he appeared, she would see him immediately. 'I hope I can find those nomads soon... I can't imagine being plagued with this fear for very long. So, Herobrine really did kill my parents then... Set a trap for my father and sent a possessed Creeper after my mother... I'll be sure to avenge them now. He's made an enemy for life.'

It wasn't too long before Nori heard more footsteps approaching, relieved that it was Quin returning. Nori's pack was slung over her shoulder, and she was holding a bowl of something steaming. "I brought you some stew," she explained, seeing Nori's curious expression. "I thought you might be hungry." She handed Nori the food and a spoon first, then the pack through the bars.

Nori was strangely touched by this small gesture of kindness, and bowed her head over the stew as she ate to hide the tears in her eyes. She had regained control of herself by the time she was finished and handed the bowl back to her cousin with a smile. "Thank you."

"Hey, it's the least I can do. We're family."

The girls spent the next couple of hours just talking, Quin mostly telling of her childhood in the village and explaining to Nori how things worked there. She told of the iron golems who protected the town from zombies, and the different roles of the citizens in town. Nori found out that the man who had grabbed her was the village blacksmith, a hard and unkind man. Before he had died, Quin's father had been a librarian, and now that he was dead Quin was the one supporting her mother with her small salary from the Church. To Nori, it seemed only a few minutes before Quin stood and unlocked the cell door and said, "It's time."

Shaking off her fears and anxiety, Nori stood, slinging her pack over her shoulder and following her cousin into the night.

**((Thanks for reading! Please review and critique. Next chapter should be up soon!))  
**


	5. Chapter Five: The Nightmare

**Chapter Five: The Nightmare**

Nori followed Quin hurriedly up several floors to the main room of the church, the area now dim and abandoned, allowing the girls to slip into the night unnoticed. It wasn't completely dark outside yet, but already the lamps on every corner were lit and people were in their houses with all doors shut and all drapes drawn. Still, not wanting to chance detection, they took back alleys to get to the main gate.

Snow was still bound to the wooden part of the fence, Nori having to hush him hurriedly so that he wouldn't start barking and alert the villagers. She cut through his rope at once with her sword, bending down after she had sheathed it to hug and pet him. Snow obeyed her and didn't bark loudly, but the dog couldn't help soft yips of happiness at seeing that his human was back and uninjured. Remembering her cousin, Nori turned back to her. "But Quin, won't you get into trouble for all this? Won't they know it was you?"

Quin grinned good-naturedly and shook her head. "Nope. Earlier I finished the escape tunnel you started. They'll think the witch just dug her way out." The two girls looked at each other for a moment before embracing. Even though they'd only met today, Nori could almost feel their family bond as if it was a tangible object, tying them together through blood. It pained Nori to leave her cousin when they'd only met, and leave her aunt that she hadn't yet seen. She hadn't had family in so long...

But she couldn't stay, and both girls knew it. After a minute they stepped back from each other, Quin giving Nori a last smile and Snow a gentle pat on the head. "Good luck, Nori. Hopefully when you return next time, you'll be welcomed as the champion who slew the demon."

"Goodbye, Quin. Good luck with everything." Nori took a breath and turned away from her cousin and the village, running into the cold desert night. As soon as she was about a mile away and shielded from view of the town by a group of cacti, she dug through her pack to make sure everything was there and unharmed. She felt a flash of anger when she saw that all her gold was gone, but luckily the priests hadn't found the small compartment that hid her diamonds.

Everything else was untouched; apparently they hadn't been brave enough to try her potions or touch her enchanted tools, nor had they seen the value in her stock of wood, sticks, stone, and iron. Her food was all there as well, thankfully. Feeling reassured, Nori closed her pack and slung it over her shoulder, looking around quickly as she drew her sword, half-expecting a monster to have snuck up on her. But the closest one was a Skeleton on top of a distant dune, with his back to her.

Nori suddenly felt dizzy, and knew at once that she had pushed herself too hard. Days of hard physical exertion followed by not sleeping a wink that day had not been good for her. However, she also knew that she couldn't just go to sleep in the middle of the desert where any monster could walk up and kill her. She would have to quickly build some kind of shelter for the night.

Drawing her shovel quickly from her backpack, she went about digging a hole and lining it with stones as quickly as she could. Snow wasn't happy about staying in the small, cold, dark enclosure, but he obeyed Nori and lay down beside her makeshift bed as she closed the trapdoor on the ceiling. Nori winced when she looked down at herself and saw just how dirty she was; her hands were okay, since Quin had brought her a bowl of water to wash with, but her clothes were streaked with dried mud and her fingernails were filthy.

"First thing tomorrow, we'll go to the river and take a bath," she mumbled as she lay down under her blanket, hearing Snow give a soft growl of acknowledgement. Nori smiled as she closed her eyes and began to drift off. She knew that her dog usually just barked or growled or wagged his tail because she spoke to him, but there were times when her lonely mind liked to imagine that he could truly understand her and talk back in his own little way...

_The first thing she became aware of in her dream was that the darkness had shifted from being straight black to a deep, thick violet, moving in a fog all around her. She felt around cautiously and realized that she was in a very small stone room, smaller than the one she had built to sleep in for the night. Trying not to give in to the claustrophobic panic she could feel bubbling under the surface, Nori took deep breaths and pulled her backpack from her shoulders. Her pickaxe was still there, so she hurriedly chipped away at the stones confining her._

_When they finally gave way, the panting girl stumbled out into a long, dark hallway. She shakily pulled out a torch and put away her pickaxe, running as fast as she could, trying to escape from the terrifying world of the nightmare. A high pitched, evil-sounding laugh began down the tunnel behind her, coming closer all the time and causing goosebumps to rise on her arms. Nori didn't dare to look back but just continued sprinting even though her lungs were burning and her legs shaking._

_At the end of the hallway, she reached an iron door that she couldn't find a button, pressure plate, or lever to open. The purple darkness behind her began to feel oppressive, as if full of pure evil intent. Nori could see that the room she had been trying to flee into was full of lava somehow, and she would have a better chance surviving whatever was in the tunnel with her. Deciding to get it over with and just face whatever it was, she drew her sword with the hand not holding the torch and whirled with wide, frightened eyes to face her foe._

_Herobrine was less than an inch away from her, staring at her with those awful glowing eyes, a cold grin on his face. Nori suddenly felt weak and small in the face of such pure hatred and evil, trembling as he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the iron door behind her. Her sword and the torch clattered to the floor, the only light now coming from Herobrine's eyes and the lava behind the door._

_"L-Let me go!" Nori finally managed to say, her voice high and shaky with fear as she struggled with the male. His hands were colder than ice; so cold they almost burned her wrists. She suddenly realized as she looked at him that not only were his eyes a source of light, the purple darkness was actually coming from him, clinging to him like a tangible object. "What do you want from me? Why can't you leave me alone?"_

_The demon spoke to her then, and it sounded like nonsense until she took time to really think through what he was saying; he was speaking backwards. "?tnaw I od tahW" His voice was high and grating, even when he whispered, so that the slightest noise from him made chills race up Nori's spine. ".esimed ruoy tub gnihton ,uoy morF" Herobrine's eyes seemed to shine brighter and his grip tightened, making Nori hiss in pain. ".em tsniaga gnidnats fo reyarp a htiw eno tsal eht era uoY"_

_Herobrine suddenly gave Nori a shove, the iron door giving way and melting in the lava right before Nori herself fell screaming to the same fate. Her fearful, pained yells soon turned to groans of the deepest agony as she slowly burned alive. She could still see Herobrine standing in the doorway and hear his laughter. The last thing she saw was water rushing down the tunnel and filling the room, instantly transforming the lava in the room to obsidian. Nori's screams were lost in the water, half of her ravaged body stuck in obsidian while she drowned._

Nori was still screaming when she woke, but her sounds of terror were still muffled and she couldn't move. It took her almost a full minute to realize that she wasn't in her sorry stone hut anymore, but lying with one cheek pressed against the cold sand. When she shifted a bit, she became aware that her arms were bound behind her, her ankles and knees tied together as well so that moving was difficult. Her mouth was covered by some kind of cloth.

'What... Who could have done this? Where's Snow? Oh, god, if Herobrine took him from me too...'

Suddenly more afraid for her companion than her own life, Nori found the strength to wriggle into a kneeling position and looked around. The sky was dim, but lightening; it was nearly dawn. She could see a campfire nearby, with several strangely dressed people around it. They all wore loose robes with hoods, which seemed counter-intuitive to her since they were in an area that would become blazing hot when the sun rose.

Snow was right next to her, bound as well, growling furiously but at least still alive. Nori began actively struggling against her bonds when she saw her pack and weapons nearby. She could also see her stone enclosure; they hadn't taken her far at all. If only she could reach her sword!

Unfortunately for Nori, the sounds of her shifting and straining had alerted her captors to her presence. One of them stood and walked over, drawing a wicked-looking dagger from his belt. The bound girl stopped struggling and tried to scramble backward when she saw it, falling on her back and squirming helplessly. The male reached up with a free hand and pulled back his hood, revealing his face in the gray morning light.

His complexion was a shock, unlike anything Nori had ever seen. Her mother had been tanned and tough-skinned, her father ghostly pale as if he had never seen the sun, and Nori was somewhere in between, her skin light but rosy. She had seen people around the village with similar complexions to her family's. But this boy was different. _Beautiful_ was the first word that came to mind.

The male's skin was dark, darker than any Nori had seen. A deep, rich brown, like pure cocoa. His features were young and smooth, so he was probably about Nori's age. But unlike Quin, who had a rather androgynous appearance, this boy was firmly masculine. Even with his loose robe, Nori could clearly see the broad shoulders and defined muscles of a man. Although she was still afraid she was going to die, she couldn't help the bizarre and unbidden thought that getting killed by a boy like this wasn't a terrible way to go. A million times better than Herobrine.

His eyes brought her back to reality. They were black, blacker than obsidian, and cold. A sneer curled his generous lips, and his expression was not at all kind. She began struggling again, but hopelessly. She was at his mercy. To her surprise, he only knelt and cut her bonds, then sat back, leaving her to brush away the ropes and remove the cloth around her mouth.

"Finally, you are awake," he said. His voice was quiet, as deep and rich as his complexion, but just as cold and mocking as his eyes. "We bound you and your dog only because you would have died otherwise. You were trapped in a night terror, and were attracting every monster in the area with your screams."

Nori swallowed hard. Herobrine had nearly killed her with just a nightmare? She cautiously shifted toward her possessions and dog. When the boy didn't stop her, she hurriedly grabbed them, cutting Snow free and holding him tightly. Nori commanded her dog to be quiet and still so he wouldn't attack the boy or his companions; she didn't have the strength to take on so many foes. "Who are you?"

He looked at her for a moment longer with those mocking eyes before answering. "I am Naasir, if you were inquiring specifically about me. As for who we are as a group, we are what your people call the Nomads. The Wanderers. Only a few of many; we are a scouting party."

Nori became excited then. Just a few hours ago, Quin had told her to find these very people! She was that much closer to stopping Herobrine. "Just the people I was looking for. Listen, I need your help. It's about a demon..."

"Silence," Naasir hissed, the malice in his voice making her recoil. "I know that you are cursed. Anyone can see that, looking at you. A cursed pale child. You are lucky, though. I wanted to kill you at once. You will bring nothing but sorrow to everyone you meet as long as you carry the mark. But the others wanted me to hear you out first. They want to take you to the Enchanter before passing judgement." He shook his head slightly and fingered his knife, as if still envisioning how he would kill her. Nori realized suddenly just how dangerous this boy was.

She was angry at his description of her, and didn't hold her tongue as she should have. "What right have you to say that I'm cursed, or a child? You know nothing about me! You don't know what I've been through, or what I'm haunted by!"

Naasir's expression darkened a bit further, and he gestured vaguely behind her. "I know enough."

Nori turned slowly, getting the same feeling of dread that she had in her nightmare, as if there was something made of pure evil just out of sight. She gasped and scrambled to her feet with a cry of dismay when she saw the village, the home of her family, in the distance.

Burning.

**((Thanks for reading! Please review and critique.))**


	6. Chapter Six: Words of Ender

**Chapter Six: Words of Ender**

Nori would have run right back to the village if Naasir hadn't grabbed her wrist. Snow growled viciously and barked at the sight of a stranger grabbing Nori, and she was tempted to command the dog to kill the boy. "Let me go! My family is back there!"

Naasir threw Nori to the sand, kicking her in the side when she tried to get up again. The others around the fire stood and ran closer, drawn by the sound of her pained cry. Many of them drew back their hoods, revealing faces as dark as Naasir's though varied through structure and expression just like other people Nori had seen.

A middle-aged woman came over and knelt beside Nori, helping her sit up and giving her a strange container, telling her in a gentle voice to take a drink of water. A couple of grown men were speaking to Naasir in a strange language; scolding him, if Nori was to judge by his expression. Others just hovered, watching. Nori shrugged off the woman's arms and tried to run for the village again, this time restrained by gentler hands.

The woman who had tried to help her put a hand on Nori's shoulder, speaking in a heavily accented but soothing voice. "It is too late for you to help. A demon with the ability to summon fire has taken that village."

Nori shook her head and continued fighting to get away. "It can't be too late! You don't understand! My cousin and aunt are there! My mother and father are already dead; he can't take Quin and Randi from me too! I have to get to them, I have to save them! I... I..." The girl didn't even realize she was sobbing until the woman pulled her close and brushed away her tears with a gentle hand.

She could feel other arms embracing her, soft voices murmuring condolences and reassurances, but she knew nothing, understood nothing. In that moment, Nori felt her will crumble, her confidence and drive crushed under the realization that her family had been wrenched away once more by Herobrine. Her only thought as she sank again into unconsciousness was, 'Why? Why did he have to take them too?'

_Once again she was in a dark room made of stone, though this one was larger. It was just as dark and filled with the same purple fog, but this time she had nothing but a pickaxe in her hands. She just sat there, staring at the floor, unable to think of anything but her sweet cousin who had tried so hard to save her. It might have been days later, or it might have only been seconds, but Nori began to feel emotion again, mainly anger._

_The anger grew within her until her body trembled with energy. The adrenaline built up until she couldn't hold still. Nori jumped to her feet and attacked the stone, cutting through it until a room of obsidian with a single hole just big enough to crawl through was revealed. She went through it and ran the dark hallway, almost eager to meet Herobrine. Nori no longer cared who or what he was; she would bash his skull in with her pickaxe for taking Quin._

_Somewhere along the way, the tunnel suddenly became a mineshaft, the walls propped up with wooden supports in weak areas. The area was lit brightly with torches, and still Herobrine was nowhere in sight, though his purple aura remained thick. "Where are you?" she screamed in frustration, hearing nothing but her own echo for an answer._

Nori was slow to wake this time, her conscious mind reluctant to face what had happened. Her body ached, and her throat was burning as if she had swallowed acid, so she supposed that she had been screaming and thrashing in her sleep. She wasn't bound this time, but lying on something comfortable, a cool and damp cloth on her forehead. The girl shifted, wincing when the movements brought her pain, and sighed, deciding that she couldn't hide from reality forever. Nori opened her eyes and slowly sat up.

She had been lying on a soft mat of some material she couldn't identify; her own clothes and blankets had always been made out of wool. Nori was alone, in a small white enclosure made of cloth and a few wooden supports (she had never seen a tent before). Looking down at herself, she was surprised to see that she was completely clean and clad in cream-colored robes of the same soft material she was lying on. It embarrassed her to think that strangers had washed and undressed her, and she found herself fervently hoping that the handsome but unfriendly Naasir hadn't seen her naked.

Snow was lying beside her, his head resting on her stomach, the dog looking at her with his bright eyes and whining in a worried way. Nori felt the grief of losing her aunt and cousin crash over her suddenly at the sight of her loyal dog. She threw her arms around Snow and sobbed. 'It's not fair... Every time I love someone, Herobrine takes them away... Why can't he just attack me and leave everyone else alone?'

Sometime during her mental breakdown, Nori became aware that the same woman from before had entered the tent. Her hand rested on Nori's back as she murmured soft words of comfort. After a few more minutes, the girl calmed enough that she could stop sobbing, though her tears continued to flow. She sat back on the mat with a soft thump, Snow once again settling with his head resting on her leg.

The kind woman touched Nori's face gently, brushing away her tears with a damp cloth much like the one that had been on her forehead. "Such great sorrow in one so young... You have lost much." It wasn't a question, but Nori nodded to confirm what the woman had said. "My name is Lila. What is yours?"

"Nori Stone." Her own voice sounded hollow, hoarse, and empty, and it startled her a bit.

"I apologize for my nephew earlier, Nori. Naasir is harsh to strangers only because he wishes to defend his people from all possible threats. He would never admit it, but the boy is afraid of the demon hunting you."

"Are you going to kill me or not?" Nori asked. She knew she was being blunt, maybe even rude, but she was just too tired mentally and emotionally to care. Aside from Snow, she had no one left. Herobrine seemed hell-bent on murdering her and everyone she held dear. Getting close to anyone would be a mistake at this point. Perhaps rudeness was safer.

"No. There would be no point in killing you. The Elder will not allow it. However, if you wish to leave us... before you go, the Enchanter wishes to speak with you. It could be that we can help you in your journey." Lila leaned forward and clasped one of Nori's limp hands in both of hers. "Nori, I cannot understand all of what you have gone through. But please allow me to be your ally. I want to help you. If you need to discuss anything, or want any advice or information... I will give you all I can."

Nori felt suddenly ashamed at her cynical view of things. Whereas she was sure Naasir would kill her in a moment, his Aunt Lila seemed nothing but pure kindness. Just because Herobrine had destroyed her parents' village, didn't mean she could give up. It meant she needed to fight that much harder. If only she wasn't so tired...

After apologizing for her abruptness, Nori launched into the same story she'd told Quin, adding the most recent events like her nightmares and the fire ravaging the village. Lila seemed shocked by nothing, only nodding or clicking her tongue sympathetically in certain places. Finally Nori was finished, her voice nearly gone from overuse. She sat back and waited for the kind Nomad to speak.

Lila reached into a pocket of her robe and pulled out a small glass vial, handing it to Nori. "Drink this. It will help your voice. Your nightmares and recent events have not been kind to you." The girl was reluctant to drink something that she didn't recognize, but she had no desire to be rude to Lila again. The liquid was bright gold and thick, and tasted vaguely like honey. Nori's throat felt better for having taken it.

After giving her some water to drink as well, Lila continued. "The demon you speak of has haunted our people before. We had a different name for him, but I will not speak it."

"Because speaking his name summons him?"

"Not necessarily. But names are powerful. If you do not acknowledge him by name, he will be slower to gain power."

Nori nodded, though this didn't quite make sense to her.

"Now, I will go and explain to the Elder and Enchanter what you have said, and then I will bring the Enchanter to speak to you." Lila smiled a bit sadly at the tired expression on Nori's face and patted her hand. "After that, before you decide anything, take this potion for a dreamless sleep. I can see that you need it." She pressed another vial into Nori's hands, waving away her thanks as she exited the tent.

Nori turned the vial in her hands as she waited for the Nomads to return, lost in deep thought (though she tried to stay far away from thoughts of her family). 'Obviously these people have knowledge of brewing potions... ones I've never heard of. And it sounds like they've banished Herobrine before. I sure hope they can help me...' She was startled when two Nomads entered the tent. The first was Lila, who sat down beside Nori to face the second. The girl realized that this must be the Enchanter.

It was a woman, older than anyone Nori had yet seen, her face a mass of wrinkles, her shriveled hands resting in her lap. However, in spite of this appearance of frailty, the woman's light gray eyes sparked with intelligence and power. "So, you are the child who would rid the world of demons."

Nori fidgeted uncomfortably under her piercing gaze. "Not all of them, ma'am. Just one."

The Enchanter chuckled and shook her head. "No. You are destined for more than you yet know, Nori Stone. But your first task is indeed to slay the one who has plagued you since your birth. You are eighteen years old, is that correct?"

"Yes. My birthday was just yesterday."

Lila gasped and looked from Nori to the Enchanter. "You mean... she's the one?"

The old woman nodded slowly. "Yes. You see, Nori, I am our spiritual leader as well as the one who learns to enchant weapons and armor to protect our warriors. I also keep the knowledge of potions, and each monster's abilities and weaknesses. I have lived a long time, as I am sure you can see. Some of the ones we call monsters, I have learned, are neutral toward us as long as we do not harm or offend them. Have you ever seen an Enderman?"

Nori shook her head. "No. Never. My father said that he had placed enchantments around the property to keep out Endermen, because looking at them directly causes them to attack you."

"Yes, they despise it when humans look at them. They take it as a threat, much as wild animals do. However, Endermen are very wise beings, and come from a dimension separate from this world and the Nether. I have learned their language, and have had the honor of conversing with one. It seems that they are gifted with knowledge of the future. The one I spoke to told me of a young girl who would rid the land of hostile monsters and demons."

Nori was silent for a moment before tilting her head and frowning at the Enchanter. "But wait... How do you know it's me?"

"The Enderman spoke of a girl not of the Nomadic people, or the Village people, nor yet the monsters. I know you have not been in the outside world long, Nori, but there are no humans who stray from the villages or the migrating groups that last long. In the areas we have searched, you are the only one who matches the description. Your parents raised you away from other people, so you have learned to fight and survive alone." The Enchanter hesitated for the first time, looking at Nori with pity. "Your road will be a long, trying, and lonely one. You will face many dangers. But rest assured, our people are prepared to help you prepare for this journey."

The last thing Nori wanted to hear while she was exhausted and grieving was that more work was waiting for her. "I don't want to do this. I just want to kill Herobrine and live in peace."

"You should know by now, child, that there is no peace in this world of ours. Not yet. And there never will be unless you are willing to bring it." The Enchanter rose stiffly. "Take your time to decide. You must accept your path willingly; no one can force you. As I am sure Lila has told you, whatever you decide we will assist you. It is the least we can do after my grandson's rudeness. Goodbye for now, Nori."

Nori watched as the woman left the tent, feeling a mixture of gratitude and frustration. She didn't want to save the world. She hadn't even been able to save her own cousin! However, Quin herself had said that the Nomads held the key to defeating Herobrine. If she was going to avenge her family, she would have to go along with what these strange people said for now.

"Lila... I want to stay here awhile, if that's alright. I will learn anything you can teach me that might help me in my fight against the demon."

The woman seemed pleased by Nori's statement, and nodded at once. "Naasir will begin your training in the morning."

Nori just groaned.

**((Thanks for reading, and thanks for your patience! Please review and critique.))**


	7. Chapter Seven: Into Fire

**Chapter Seven: Into Fire**

Nori gasped in pain as Naasir used a subtle twist of his blade to knock her diamond sword out of her grasp, the weapon sinking hilt-deep into the sand ten feet away. Nursing her stinging hand, the girl backed away from her cruel teacher, who was smirking as usual. After the first day, she had learned not to complain, no matter how much he hurt her or how difficult the exercises were. He only mocked her more if she whined.

"Not as pitiful yesterday, but you lack speed and grace with that heavy sword of yours," he pointed out (truthfully), stinging Nori's pride. It was true that the diamond sword was heavy, and its weight made it hard to move quickly and efficiently. But she refused to switch to another blade, especially not a light and thin one of iron like Naasir used. Lila had secretly told her that such weapons were quick to break, and did not absorb enchantments quite as well as diamond weaponry and armor. Besides, she would not give up the one possession she had of her mother's.

"Sorry, I will do better," said Nori through clenched teeth, retrieving her sword and cleaning the blade with the edge of her shirt.

Naasir scoffed, "Hard to do worse," and stalked away; apparently her sword fighting lessons were done for the day.

'Thank the gods,' Nori thought as she made her way toward the edge of camp, where a middle-aged man named Jamal was helping her discover the advantages of archery.

Nori had been training and learning with the large community of Nomads for a week now. Most of them were kind, or at least polite, but Naasir refused to hide his disdain for her and her heritage. When she asked Lila why he hated her so, the woman had answered that his mother had been killed by someone from Nori's village.

"I know he is difficult," Lila had said, giving Nori's shoulder a pat, "but bear with it. You are only here for one month, and then we will send you to the Nomads in the North to learn their ways. Then you will not have to deal with Naasir. Until then, he is the best with blades in our camp, and it would be foolish to allow your pride to keep you from advancing."

And it was true that Naasir was good with a sword, better than anyone she had met so far. And he had, albeit grudgingly, taught her how to throw knives or any sharp object and be able to hit something as small as a tent peg. Nori had to be grateful for all that she had already learned. Other Nomads had taught her how to find water in the desert, the best way to fight off the monsters that came at night, how to build traps around the camp that would keep them away, and how to dismantle those traps in the morning.

The Enchanter was teaching her how to more efficiently place spells on all kinds of things. She had admired her father's pack and extensive supplies, especially all the potions he had brewed. However, she pointed out that one day the stockpile would run out, and Nori would need her own skills and ingredients.

"After you have visited all the Nomad groups of which we know, it would be advisable for you to go to a different village and learn the ways of mining. Indeed, all potions can only be retrieved through the Nether realm, skills only the creatures living there know of. And we Nomads do not often mine deep enough to get what is required for a Nether Portal. This you must learn from villagers."

Nori got a sick feeling whenever she thought about entering the dangerous, fiery realm of the Nether. It was rumored that place was where the souls of humans went after they died, though of course no one could know for sure. But the few facts living people knew for sure about the dimension were unsettling. Barren, hot, and filled with horrible creatures, the Nether wasn't somewhere Nori was looking forward to going. 'Well, at least that's a long time away yet,' she reassured herself, putting her unease aside and turning her mind to her archery lesson.

**Later That Night**

For the first time in awhile, Nori had found herself sleeping with no nightmares, her mind granting her a happy dream for once. Her mother, father, aunt, and cousin were with her in a sunny, monster-free meadow, just laughing and talking. When she tried to focus in on what they were saying, she couldn't catch the words, but she felt happier than she had in a long time...

A hand shaking her arm jerked her out of the pleasant vision, Nori waking with a start to see Lila standing over her. "L-Lila?" she croaked sleepily, rubbing her eyes and trying to focus on the woman. "What is it, is something wrong?"

"Hush, no Nori. Everything is fine. But I discovered something earlier today that I didn't want to show you until now, when we won't be overheard. Please, get up and get your things, follow me."

Not allowing her any time to reply, Lila pulled up her hood and slipped out of the tent into the cool desert night. Nori groaned and rolled over, pulling on her leather armor over her loose cotton clothing. 'Whatever Lila has to show me, I certainly hope it's important,' she grumbled in her thoughts, especially grouchy since she'd been yanked away from her dream.

It took her only a moment to gather her things and exit the tent, the girl blinking in the darkness, trying to get her eyes to adjust. Lila was already at the edge of the camp, beckoning her silently but impatiently. Nori jogged over, her steps muted by the sand, the movement making her feel a little more alert. "What's all this about, Lila?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"I cannot speak here, come with me." The older woman grabbed Nori's hand with a surprising strength, Nori's sword sheath and backpack jangling softly as they hustled into the nearby forest. Each time Nori tried to get Lila to explain herself, the woman didn't reply, until Nori felt very suspicious of her friend. What could the Nomad possibly be up to?

After an hour of brisk travel, they had climbed to the top of a high hill through the forest, the Nomad camp left far behind. Lila released Nori and turned to face her, holding up a hand at the girl's half-formed protest. "I promise you, what I have to show you is very important. Earlier I discovered a Nether portal, just ahead. Through it you will find one of the fortresses where that awful demon lurks and commands his undead soldiers. This is your chance, Nori. You've been well trained. You must act now, when he will not expect you, when he is not yet at his full strength."

Nori felt all kinds of alarm bells going off in her head at this. Lila had never spoken like this before. With Lila, it was all patience, waiting, study and training, priming for the correct moment. This was wrong. "Lila, this isn't like you, you've always said I needed to get all the information from the Nomads and villagers before entering a dangerous place like that. I'm not ready, I don't even have my diamond armor on me!"

"This portal will close when the sun rises, Nori, never to open again. This is your only chance. Please, trust me. I know what I'm doing." Lila wrestled with a now frightened Nori, forcing her further up the hill. Just as they reached the edge of a cliff, the black portal came into view. Nori managed to turn and face Lila just before she was shoved through. Her face froze in a mask of shock as the purple aura sucked her in and transported her to the separate dimension, the girl incapable of believing what she had seen.

Lila's eyes were glowing with Herobrine's hated white light, and her smile was evil and full of malice. Herobrine had possessed her, and now Nori had fallen right into his trap.

**((Finally back, guys! Sooo sorry for the long hiatus! I appreciate everyone who encouraged me to continue this story, and I look forward to diving right back in. As always, please review and critique, it really helps me out! Hope to have the next chapter out very, very soon.))**


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